D

espite poor preparation, 14 Indonesian youth athletes, fully armed with the “nothing is impossible” spirit, will depart to neighboring Singapore on Thursday to take part in the first Youth Olympic Games, which kicks off this weekend.

“I believe that nothing is impossible,” 17-year-old Grace Sari Ysidora, who peaked at 32 on the International Tennis Federation’s (ITF) junior rankings this March, said on the sidelines of the contingent’s farewell ceremony on Tuesday.

Her rank in the ITF junior top 40 earned her automatic qualification for the Aug. 14-26 Games.

The country’s young tennis star, who was a semifinalist at the USTA ITF Junior Circuit in Lexington last November, expects to finish in the top 16.

Also loaded with confidence was the country’s rising boy’s shuttler Evert Sukamta and girl’s weightlifter Dewi Safitri.

“I got a boost of confidence since my last competition at the Indonesia International Challenge in Surabaya,” said 18-year-old Evert, who reached the semifinals in the senior tournament.

“I believe I have improved much since I last competed in the qualifiers,” he said, adding that in the last four months he had been working hard to trim down his unforced errors. “My technique is getting better,” he said.

Evert qualified for the Youth Olympics after getting through to the semifinals at the Asian Youth U-19 Championship in Kuala Lumpur in April.

Lifter Dewi Safitri, who specializes in the girls’ 53-kilogram division, said her experience in several tournaments abroad in the past three years were sufficient to keep her spirits up.

“Of course I feel nervous, but it is perfectly normal. With my spirit and confidence I want to win gold,” Dewi said.

The petite Dewi has a string of medals under her belt, including three bronze medals at the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) Youth Olympic Qualification Event for Asia in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, in April, three gold medals at last December’s Asian Junior Championship in Dubai, UAE, and was ranked seventh in the world at the Youth World Championships in Chiangmai, Thailand, in 2008.

The other youth athletes includes shutler Renna Suwarno, lifter Zainudin, swimmers Fibriani Ratna Marita, Pratama Siahaan and Patrisia Yosita Hapsari, cyclists Elga Kharisma Novanda, Destian
Satria, Ongki Setiawan and Suherman, tae kwon do athlete Macho Virgonta Hungan and archer Erwina Safitri.

“We do not have any medal targets from the seven sports we will participate in, but we still keep our hopes alive,” contingent chief manager Tubagus Ade Lukman said Tuesday.

“We have a good chance for medals in badminton as well as in weightlifting,” he added.

The Games will showcase 3,600 athletes between the ages of 14 and 18 from 205 countries who will compete in 26 sports and a culture education program.